The invention relates to an eyebolt for releasable connection of a carrying, lashing or traction member to an object.
Eyebolts serve to easily and at least temporarily connect an object to a carrying, lashing or traction member. As a result, they form a stop member which can be affixed or is already affixed to the respective object as a releasable anchor point.
The eyebolt, also known as a ring bolt, gets its name because it has an annular eyelet in place of an ordinary screw head. The carrying, lashing or traction member oftentimes involves cables or wires as well as belts or chains, which are either guided through the eyelet on the eyebolt or, for example, affixed using a shackle.
Aside from simple arrangements that provide a one-piece connection of the eyelet with an externally threaded bolt, eyelets are also known that are rotatably mounted on the bolt. The purpose of a rotatable implementation is to also allow the position of the eyelet to be aligned relative to the object, when assuming the fixed state. Through the independence gained relative to the otherwise unchangeable position of the threadably engaged eyebolt, the eyelet can be best suited to the course of the carrying, lashing or traction member.
An eyebolt that includes a threaded bolt on which an eyelet is rotatably fastened is disclosed in DE 201 21 118 U1. The threaded bolt has an inner bearing part, whereas the eyelet is connected to a corresponding outer bearing part. The outer bearing part is supported on the inner part through interposition of rolling bodies. The rolling bodies in turn are arranged behind one another about the inner bearing part so as to run in rings on at least two spaced-apart parallel planes above one another.
The eyelet, which is also swingably arranged on the outer bearing part is hereby arranged above the inner bearing part so that a pulling force perpendicular to the threaded bolt produces a respectively great moment between the inner bearing part and the outer bearing part. By the ring-shaped arrangement of the rolling bodies on spaced-apart planes, a respectively great inner leverage is made possible there between so as to reduce the stress transmitted by the moment load via the rolling bodies. At the same time, as there is little tendency to tilt, the outer bearing part can be rotatably secured with substantially no clearance to the threaded bolt that has the inner bearing part.
The disclosed construction results in a durable as well as flexible possibility for the design of such an eyebolt. However, the design results in a great structural height of the outer bearing part, causing problems especially when tight spaces are involved. Moreover, the outer bearing part exhibits a high degree of freedom in terms of its rotation about the inner bearing part, causing an undesirable twisting between the carrying, lashing or traction member and the object connected thereto.
Against this background, there still remains room for improvement in terms of construction of such eyebolts.